NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� 鈥淭he Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of 鈥淭he Babadook鈥� continued to envelop moviegoers. Its , a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent鈥檚 directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term 鈥渆levated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like 鈥淚t Follows,鈥� 鈥淕et Out鈥� and 鈥淗ereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this 鈥� and those many 鈥淏abadook鈥� memes 鈥� unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables 鈥� 鈥淏ah-Bah-Doooook鈥� 鈥� an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of 鈥淭he Babadook.鈥�
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AP: Given that you didn't set out to in any way 鈥渃hange鈥� horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of 鈥淭he Babadook鈥�?
KENT: I鈥檝e always been a lover of horror of all kinds. It鈥檚 a tradition that dates back to the beginning of cinema, with Carl Dreyer鈥檚 鈥淰ampyr鈥� and so many horror films in that early part of cinema. So I think I was just following a tradition that was firmly established in terms of what they now call 鈥渆levated horror,鈥� which doesn鈥檛 make sense to me. I don鈥檛 think I invited anything new. I just told my version.
AP: You can see some those influences 鈥� Dreyer, Murnau 鈥� in the film's production design.
KENT: I really wanted a world where the thing could reliably spring from. So while we didn鈥檛 to make it a fake world, we wanted to heighten it just to the point where it wasn鈥檛 silly or questionable that this energy or entity appeared in the house. We were very particular about the colors. The house and everything in the world had to be a certain color. I remember Radek (艁adczuk), my DP, laughing because I was annoyed that the grass was too green.
AP: Have you watched it again recently?
KENT: No, I haven鈥檛. Even when I watched the trailer I was like: 鈥淢istakes, mistakes.鈥� I might slip in and watch it (during the rerelease) and see how it feels. I rarely think of it. I鈥檓 very grateful to that film but I rarely 鈥� never 鈥� refer back to it.
AP: Why is that?
KENT: I don鈥檛 think filmmakers tend to sit down and want to watch their own film. It鈥檚 kind of my idea of a nightmare to go back and watch it.
AP: You also probably didn鈥檛 want to be defined by one work. Your was a brutal, searing drama bout rape in colonial Australia.
KENT: Totally. It feels like my slightly less popular child who I say, 鈥淲ould you like to meet 鈥楾he Nightingale?鈥欌�� I鈥檓 enormously proud of that film because it took so much of us to make it and it was so uncompromising. We didn鈥檛 go to a National Park with a car park next to it. We sort of went into the wilderness.
AP: Have your thoughts about 鈥淭he Babadook鈥� changed over time?
KENT: To me, the film is very pure. I really fought to make it pure. Even though it was a low-budget film 鈥� I think it was $1.6 to $2 million U.S. 鈥� it was very uncompromising. Because I hadn鈥檛 made a film, I was an untested entity, so everyone had their two cents worth. They wanted to change the end or make a sequel or make it more gory, and I was just adamant about keeping it pure. So when I think of that film, I鈥檓 really proud that me and my team were able to protect it.
And I wonder if in the current marketplace if it would have gotten made. It鈥檚 much harder to make films now. It was hard then, though I think it鈥檚 even harder now. I hope people can continue to protect their work because we need original, independent films. Where I live, there鈥檚 been a Robert Bresson retrospective and I鈥檝e gone to a lot of his films. It鈥檚 just lifechanging to see films like that that are so old now but feel like they were made yesterday.
AP: That kind of repertory cinema experience has traditionally been an arthouse thing, but revivals like yours for 鈥淭he Babadook鈥� seem to be a new, broader extension of it. What do you think has changed?
KENT: I feel like we鈥檙e in this very dark age of art or cinema. And I feel like people crave that experience. I went to see on the weekend Dreyer鈥檚 鈥淥rdet鈥� and Bergman鈥檚 鈥淭he Seventh Seal.鈥� Especially in "Ordet," it鈥檚 such a transcendent film. The audience, we were collectively experiencing it. I could hear people crying at the end. It鈥檚 the reason that we went to the cinema in the first place 鈥� to have an experience. Not to sit on our couch while we鈥檙e looking at our phones watching some sort of content. It鈥檚 not bringing out the best in us or in the work. For me, I take it very seriously because I think we need it.
AP: Rewatching 鈥淭he Babadook,鈥� I was struck by how much care you take in pulling the horror out of repressed emotions. It's nearly an hour before the Babadook materializes, which he does after the mother shouts 鈥淛ust be normal!鈥� at her son.
KENT: It also comes out of a point where he鈥檚 desperately trying to warn her of the truth, and then he鈥檚 medicated. I鈥檓 not saying medication is bad, but in this case it鈥檚 very bad. That鈥檚 when the energy become a reality. I was fascinated at the time, and still am, at how people can push down so much on a world of pain and grief and continue to function. I think it brings a half life, unfortunately. I think we have to, on some level, face those painful experiences so we can enjoy the fullness of life.
AP: There aren't a lot of movies 鈥� though Lynne Ramsay's 鈥淲e Need to Talk About Kevin鈥� comes to mind 鈥� that offer such an honest portrait of struggle in motherhood.
KENT: I thought I was going to be vilified. And yet all I got was women saying, 鈥淥h, thank you. Finally, some reality on the screen.鈥� Not that they wanted to or attempted to kill their children (laughs) but that there was a sense of an imperfect mother. I remember when I was writing it and I read the script and thought, 鈥淥h, I don鈥檛 like this woman. Why?鈥� And I thought, 鈥淪he鈥檚 too perfect.鈥� So I made her much less perfect and I鈥檓 happier that I did that.
It鈥檚 funny about film鈥檚 receptions. I thought 鈥淣ightingale鈥� would be really understood and embraced. But it was, to me, such a misunderstood film and I was shocked at the response.
AP: What shocked you?
KENT: I was accused to being misogynist and a misandrist and a racist. I got every 鈥渋st鈥� thrown at me at the time. To me, it didn鈥檛 make sense because I was the messenger. I researched that film thoroughly and made it in collaboration with the Palawa people, very respectfully on both sides.
It鈥檚 the age we live in where if you represent racism, it doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e a racist, but some people think it does. But that film is also having an afterlife that surprises me. As a filmmaker, you have to commit to what you want to do, and then the rest is up to others.
In terms of where we鈥檙e at now, there鈥檚 a danger of it all becoming homogenized content and it kind of terrifies me. There needs to be more care taken with these streamers to make films that actually move people and are good, not just hit a quota.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
